Issue link: https://read.dmtmag.com/i/1034837
STiR coffee and tea 41 Pod Pack International's new headquarters, factory, and warehouse. It's harder than it looks Filling the bins with coffee and flipping the switch on a multi-million dollar fill and seal machine that produces 300 cap- sules a minute can't be that hard, right? Consider the varying density of cof- fee at origin, the thousands of ways to roast coffee, the precision grind required to fill and pack each pod uniformly; compounded by many blends and mul- tiple brands, says Philip Angus, business development director at ICA USA. His company supplied equipment for the new Pod Pack factory. "Pods and capsules are becoming a commodity as market saturation occurs, each product has unique flavor and pro- duction characteristics," he observes. This is why Pod Pack offers a verti- cally integrated suite of capabilities that includes sourcing, grinding, batching, fla- vor mixing, customized packaging, and distribution. The facility is designed with manufacturing space dedicated to grind- ing and blending, offers industry-leading r&d, warehousing, and office functional- ity. The facility is climate-controlled and with direct links to production bays uti- lizing real-time plant and machine moni- toring systems, says Martin. Controlling every aspect of produc- tion is critical to delivering a good-tasting cup, he said. The most common complaint is that single-serve methods of preparation result in a watery cup of coffee. Specialty roast- ers are rightfully concerned with achieving brew strength comparable to the selec- tions offered in their coffee shop. Achieving a brew strength of 1.25 total dissolved solids (TDS) requires a precise grind and sophisticated internal filters in the capsule. Assuming you start with good coffee, the problem becomes how to get enough grind in a small space, says Angus. Ring and soft filter combinations en- able packers to adjust the dose from 7 to 14 grams. Filled properly and with the correct filter paper or mesh, a pod with 14 grams of coffee will deliver a very sat- isfying cup equal to drip brew in TDS. Another aspect of commodity pro- duction is the fact that roasters must offer versatility in format. In addition to capsules and pods, Pod Pack fills tea packets, super pods, and cold brew pods. Foodservice prefers filter pods, homeowners want hard capsules and Ne-